Several of my fellow GVN volunteers will be going back to Port-au-Prince to join GrassRoots United, a disaster relief organisation that is running some awesome long-term sustainable projects. If you still want to help Haiti, do check them out!

I have also heard from Blake, another former volunteer who just returned from two months with GRU – they worked on a couple of projects in Jacmel, and it seems “our” camps are cholera-free, which is great news! Because the land owners want to close the camps, people are slowly moving away, but hopefully this is a good thing and they find more permanent homes. I will give the rest of my donations to returning GVN friend Debra, so she can use it to help those people who were our neighbours.

One year ago today the earthquake devasted Haiti, an already struggling nation.

From October to December I had the privilege of working in volunteer projects run by the Global Volunteer Network GVN, which was an amazing and life-altering experience, as you all know. My brother works for a regional newspaper, Basellandschaftliche Zeitung and took the opportunity to interview me – the end result sounds much better than the actual conversation. *g*

Download: pdf, 1.2mb

Yesterday my successor started at work, so I’ll be showing her the ropes and make sure I leave my first proper job (which I lasted almost two years in, unexpectedly) in better shape than I found it… which shouldn’t be too hard, considering I started from scratch.

In addition to this I’m naturally also thinking more and more about Haiti. It’s been intruding in my dreams these past few days, making sleep less than restful. I’m making lists and trying to get a clearer idea of what to take to Haiti, and how. I hope to be able to bring some useful donations, but it all has to fit into two bags (in addition with the bulky stuff I’ll need, like mosquito net, air mattress etc.) – one of which I’ll have to pay $50 for I just discovered. So yeah, my mind is busybusybusy…

I’ve also arranged a goodbye party in Basel on October 9 – if you’d like to come, drop me a line!

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Gestern fing meine Nachfolgerin an, damit ich sie einarbeiten und sicherstellen kann, dass ich meine erste richtige Arbeitsstelle (bei der ich schlussendlich fast zwei Jahre war) in gutem Zustand hinterlasse… immerhin war ich die erste, die die Position innehatte.

Ausserdem denke ich natürlich auch viel über Haiti nach. In den letzten Tagen habe ich viel davon geträumt, was zu unruhigem Schlaf führte. Ich mache Listen und versuche, rauszufinden, was ich alles mitnehmen soll, und wie ich es nach Haiti bringen kann. Ich würde nämlich gerne auch einige praktische Spenden mitnehmen, die aber alle in zwei Taschen passen müssen (zusätzlich zu Schlafsack, Moskitonetz, Luftmatratze usw.). Für die zweite Tasche werde ich erst noch $50 zahlen müssen, wie ich kürzlich entdeckt habe. Ihr könnt also sehen, mein Gehirn ist ziemlich beschäftigt…

Ich hab auch ein Abschiedstreffen in Basel organisiert – falls ihr am 9. Oktober dabei sein wollt, sagt mir einfach Bescheid!

Except for immunisations (which my health insurance should mostly cover) and travel insurance most of the big budget posts have been paid for by now, although I’m sure I’ll keep thinking of stuff I have to buy (like a battery-operated fan and similar things to make my life in Haiti easier). But this means that, having taken care of myself (again – thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you that supported me in this!), I’m now thinking of how to help the Haitians.

Therefore, if you’ve wanted to donate to the earthquake victims but didn’t want to just send your money to an anonymous organisation – please consider contributing to my ‘help fund’. I will use this money to a) buy some supplies here in Switzerland and carry them in my luggage (apparently, vitamins are difficult to buy locally, for example) and b) help where I see it’s needed when I’m in the country (eg., I’ve heard of volunteers buying mattrasses for an orphanage).

Consider using the donate button in the sidebar or on the project website, making a note that it’s for the help fund, not my expenses, and I promise to do my best to make a difference where it matters!

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Ausser den Impfungen (die eigentlich grösstenteils meine Krankenkasse zahlen sollte) und Reiseversicherung ist der Grossteil der grossen Budgetposten mittlerweile bezahlt, auch wenn mir sicher immer wieder Sachen für meine Einkaufsliste einfallen werden (wie einen batteriebetriebenen Ventilator und andere Dinge, die mein Leben in Haiti einfacher machen). Dies bedeutet, dass ich, jetzt wo ich selber versorgt bin (nochmals danke, danke, danke an euch alle, die mir dabei geholfen haben!), mir anfange, darüber Gedanken zu machen, wie ich den Haitianern helfen kann.

Vielleicht hättet ihr nach dem Erdbeben gerne gespendet, wolltet aber euer Geld nicht einfach einer anonymen Organisation geben – in dem Fall, überlegt euch doch, in mein ‘Hilfskonto’ einzuzahlen. Dieses Geld werde ich einerseits brauchen, um hier in der Schweiz Sachen zu kaufen, die in Haiti nur schwierig zu erhalten sind (anscheinend gibt es z.B. wenig Vitamine im Land), und andererseits, um direkt vor Ort helfen zu können, wo Hilfe am dringendsten benötigt wird (so haben u.a. Freiwillige Matratzen für ein Waisenhaus gekauft).

Überlegt euch doch, den Spendenknopf auf der linken Seite oder auf der Projekt-Webseite zu drücken, mit dem Vermerk, dass die Spende für das Hilfskonto bestimmt ist (nicht für meine Ausgaben), und ich verspreche, mein Bestes zu tun, damit das Geld konkrete Hilfe liefert.

I would like to congratulate you on confirming your place in the Haiti Volunteer Program for 1 month starting 15th October 2010. You may now go ahead and book your flights!

As a volunteer in our Haiti program, you have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of communities devastated by the January 12 earthquake. You will provide support, attention and assistance to the people of Haiti through our rebuilding and rehabilitation program.

Here at Global Volunteer Network we partner with local organizations who are best placed to identify their country’s greatest development needs. We will help you prepare for your placement and once you are in-country you will have the support of our local partner. By volunteering you will be a part of the GVN movement which takes action against poverty and you will gain experience and personal growth by doing so.

As you can see, I’m currently signed up for 1 month – but I’m still convinced that I should go at least for 6-8 weeks in order to be able to really make a difference. It all depends on my fundraising, which means I should get started on that, doesn’t it?

I am very nervous about the whole thing, as it’s quite clear volunteering will be taxing on both body and mind. But I really think this is what I’m supposed to do and hope and pray for the strength to really go for it!

Then we went to my parents’ new place in a tiny village near Zurich, which is going to be my home for the next couple of months at least (I need to find a temp job while I do a proper job hunt in the UK and Ireland). It was sad that everyone except for my parents had to leave to go back to Basel in the evening, but as far as coming home experiences go, this one couldn’t have been much better! Now if only I wasn’t missing Wellington so badly…

As always, all my photos can be found on Flickr. The rest of the homecoming photos, Australia and Singapore are collected here, New Zealand here.

Yesterday I watched a couple of movies with Michelle (and a very sleepy Rathy) – ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Some Like It Hot’, both films that never fail to make me smile.

And tonight the view from my window once again managed to make me get out my camera:

But anyway, back home the EuroCup 2008 started, which led me to search YouTube for some video of the opening match, Switzerland-Czech Republic, which was held in Basel (Switzerland lost, 1:0, btw). In doing so I found this pretty little video of a tram ride from the Basel train station:

I also discovered that apparently Baschi, a hometown boy, did the inofficial Euro 08 song for Switzerland – Bring en hei (“bring it home”): www.sendspace.com/file/avyszo

But here are the dates:
June 19: last exam
visit Denise, pack and ship all my stuff
June 28: Meredith moves into my room
travel the South Island, spend a couple of days saying goodbye to Wellington
July 25: Wellington – Melbourne
travel Melbourne – Adelaide – Alice Springs – Uluru – Perth
Sept 2: Perth – Singapore
break up the long flight by visiting Amy
Sept 5: Singapore – London – Zurich

I’ll arrive in Zurich on Sept 6 at noon. It’s a Saturday, so hopefully my whole family can come and pick me up.